Jim Donaldson: A tough way for Cotton to go

Saturday

Mar 22, 2014 at 7:41 PM

PROVIDENCE — Less than 24 hours earlier, Bryce Cotton had stepped on to the court in the AT&T Center in San Antonio and, in front of thousands of screaming fans and a national television audience, played...

PROVIDENCE — Less than 24 hours earlier, Bryce Cotton had stepped on to the court in the AT&T Center in San Antonio and, in front of thousands of screaming fans and a national television audience, played the game of his life, scoring a career-high, 36 points against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament.

“I’ve coached a long time,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “Bryce Cotton played one of the best games I’ve ever had anybody play against us. My whole thought defensively was what can we do to stop him? I think you look at that (stat) line — I mean, 13 for 23, 7 for 7, 8 assists — he was truly dominating the game. It was an impressive performance.”

Shortly after 4 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, Cotton stepped off a bus on the quiet, Providence College campus, his collegiate playing career over.

There was no screaming throng waiting to welcome him and his teammates, only 20-to-30 people applauding, and a hand-lettered sign in a window by the entrance to the Peterson Recreation Center that read: “100% — thank you — Cotton.”

Instead of the roar of cheers filling his ears, there was only the sound of the wind blowing through the bare limbs of the trees.

The night before, he’d been dazzling, making a spectacular effort to carry his hardworking, overachieving team to what would have been a memorable victory over the Tar Heels. Now, on this blustery, March afternoon, it was done, over. The Friars’ season, Cotton’s playing days at PC — finished following a heartbreaking, 79-77 defeat.

“It wasn’t enough, you know,” Cotton said. “I definitely left it all out on the floor, just like the rest of my teammates. But it wasn’t enough, because we didn’t come up with the win.”

Nothing more could have been asked of Cotton in this season that, while fraught with adversity early on, ended in a Big East championship and PC’s first NCAA tournament appearance in a decade.

He took over as the point guard when Kris Dunn suffered a season-ending injury, played almost every minute of every game, and led the team in scoring and assists.

“Going into the NCAA tournament, you know that each game could be your last,” he said, standing on the sidewalk as his teammates headed toward their dorm rooms. “I definitely wanted to leave everything on the floor. I wanted to have no regrets.”

His only regret is that there are no more games.

“It took about half an hour after the game for that to sink in” he said. “But it’s been an amazing four years.”

What’s amazing is that Providence College was the only Division I school to offer him a scholarship coming out of high school in Tucson, Arizona.

Asked Saturday what his fondest memory of playing at Providence would be, Cotton replied: “I have two. The first is that Keno Davis gave me a scholarship when I couldn’t get a single offer, even from a D-II school.

“The next would be us winning the Big East championship, beating a great team like Creighton, considering all the adversity we had.”

The fact that he wasn’t heavily recruited — indeed, was hardly recruited at all — inspired Cotton.

“People would hear I was a good player,” he said. “But when they actually saw me, I wasn’t the player they envisioned. They thought I was too small and skinny. People thought I didn’t have what it takes.

“I kept all of that,” he said, a small smile spreading across his face, “in my motivation tank.”

He worked tirelessly on his game, developing a deadly jump shot that, combined with his quickness and ability to get to the basket, made him one of the best guards in the country.

“My family always reminded me that, if you’re going to be good at anything, you have to work hard at it. With all the doubts people had about me, I had more than enough motivation to keep pushing,” he said.

Cotton has no doubters now.

He has come a long way from his days as an unheralded freshman in a struggling program.

“Considering where the program was when first got here, to where it is as I’m leaving — it feels good for me to have been part of the team that brought us back,” he said. “I think the sky’s the limit for the program now, considering the quick turnaround that coach (Ed) Cooley has done here.

“Obviously, the loss (to North Carolina) hurt. It was sad to think that would be the last time I would put on a PC uniform. But knowing all we’d overcome as a team, all we’d accomplished, we couldn’t let that loss define our season.”

After the game, as the Friars and Heels shook hands, Williams spent a little extra time talking to Cotton.

“He told me I was a heck of a player,” Cotton said. “He told he enjoyed seeing what I was doing — it was just too bad I was doing it against his team.”

Cotton did it all for the Friars, who had a much better season than anyone expected.

Now, he’s done, turning and walking away with the sound of the wind in his ears, the cheers that were ringing in them Friday night already a memory.